CFD-Simulations in the Early Product Development

AbstractA growing range of products shifts the product development in focus. Especially the early design phase defines the costs and quality. Thus, to ensure the quality of the products, different concepts are designed and evaluated. A tool for the evaluation of the different designs is simulation due to being fast and cost efficient. But simulation in the early phase still remains a problem. This results of the basic and fast changing concepts, which take too much effort to be converted into a simulation model. To get around these circumstances, we propose a method for an online modelling in the design process. Instead of defining the simulation model at once, the method modificates the simulation model during simulation run time. Furthermore, the functionality is shown in a CFD simulation using the meshless Smoothing Hydrodynamics method. Using the GPU to achieve real-time simulation, the method allows a WYSIWYG design-simulation development helping to raise the quality of products

Laser Drilling of Small Holes in Different Kinds of Concrete

Recently, in Japan, safety measures such as earthquake-resistant reinforcement work and tile-reinforcement work are increasing. Current concrete drilling methods have issues such as noise, vibration, dust, and reaction force. These methods are causing stress for the residents. Consequently, solutions are being sought for work taking place on skyscrapers and at facilities that cannot shut down during construction, such as hotels, schools, hospitals and geriatric facilities for instance.   This study investigated how laser drilling change the conditions, depending on the type of concrete in order to determine the possibility of using laser drilling for tile-reinforcement work and repairing concrete on building exterior. The results confirmed that it’s possible to successfully drill holes for drilling diameters of 4 to 6 mm and depths of around 50 mm in concrete with a compressive strength within the range of 20 to 100 N/mm2 by adjusting laser conditions. In case of deep holes the CW-mode should be chosen. Furthermore, by controlling laser irradiation conditions, it is possible to change the shape of the holes. These different kinds of holes are suitable for different applications. It is expected that laser irradiation drilling will be applied to new construction methods

Subliminal galvanic-vestibular stimulation influences ego- and object-centred components of visual neglect

Neglect patients show contralesional deficits in egocentric and object-centred visuospatial tasks. The extent to which these different phenomena are modulated by sensory stimulation remains to be clarified. Subliminal galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS) induces imperceptible, polarity-specific changes in the cortical vestibular systems without the unpleasant side effects (nystagmus, vertigo) induced by caloric vestibular stimulation. While previous studies showed vestibular stimulation effects on egocentric spatial neglect phenomena, such effects were rarely demonstrated in object-centred neglect. Here, we applied bipolar subsensory GVS over the mastoids (mean intensity: 0.7. mA) to investigate its influence on egocentric (digit cancellation, text copying), object-centred (copy of symmetrical figures), or both (line bisection) components of visual neglect in 24 patients with unilateral right hemisphere stroke. Patients were assigned to two patient groups (impaired vs. normal in the respective task) on the basis of cut-off scores derived from the literature or from normal controls. Both groups performed all tasks under three experimental conditions carried out on three separate days: (a) sham/baseline GVS where no electric current was applied, (b) left cathodal/right anodal (CL/AR) GVS and (c) left anodal/right cathodal (AL/CR) GVS, for a period of 20. min per session. CL/AR GVS significantly improved line bisection and text copying whereas AL/CR GVS significantly ameliorated figure copying and digit cancellation. These GVS effects were selectively observed in the impaired- but not in the unimpaired patient group. In conclusion, subliminal GVS modulates ego- and object-centred components of visual neglect rapidly. Implications for neurorehabilitation are discussed

Waste Reduction by Product-Quality Based Scheduling in Food Processing

AbstractRelated to resource efficiency waste reduction is the crucial point in the processing of food. As shown in different Food Waste Studies the amount of waste in food processing is enormous. Up to 400.000 metric tons of edible food is disposed every year caused by wrong treatment, handling and processing. Processing is the major point to deal with. In the case of manual processing in a cantina kitchen waste can be classified into waste associated with overproduction, product damages or technical interruptions. To reduce the amount of loss by using technical solutions it is possible to reduce up to 60 % of loss during the processing. Related to the product itself the automation and especially the scheduling of the processes in a commercial kitchen is more complex than the scheduling of standard products e.g. in the automotive sector. This article shows a solution to extend the criteria of production planning within an automated food processing environment. The paper introduces a product model that prescribes the progress of product quality while processing

Development of a Web Based Monitoring System for a Distributed and Modern Production

AbstractWeb technologies have experienced a rapid development in recent years. In particular web browsers enhanced their abilities because of the improvement of JavaScript, CSS3 and HTML5. Hence, richer web-based software solutions with an increasing range of functions are available. By using responsive web design (RWD), a technology to display content without resizing on different screens, developers are able to support a diverse range of devices with small effort.In order to enable a monitoring of the current status of a production system, signals of many different sensors, machine and production data are required. Combining microcontrollers with sensors to embedded sensors enables an efficient way to communicate with web services. Due to the strong decline of prices for semiconductor technologies, companies are able to set up production machines with these technologies at low costs.This paper presents a way to set up a distributed manufacturing control system by using common web technologies like RWD and embedded systems. We discuss advantages and drawbacks of web-based software solutions and show a methodical approach for the use in a modern production system. Finally, the functionality of the method is proven within an application example

Current Knowledge Management in Manual Assembly – Further Development by the Analytical Hierarchy Process, Incentive and Cognitive Assistance Systems

The complexity of manual assembly is continuously increasing due to a large variety of products, multi-product assembly or a batch size of one. To stay ahead in competency and competition, and to ensure adaptability and flexibility in today’s dynamic production environment, awareness of knowledge as the 4th factor of production, as well as the effective management of knowledge, are crucial. The present research therefore aimed at further advancing knowledge management in manual assembly by (1) assessing cognitive assistance systems and organisational incentive systems by use of an online survey distributed to German production companies, and by (2) applying the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) as a transparent decision-making tool for knowledge-based improvements in the manual assembly process and workplace design. By employing an exemplary case of two feasible assembly alternatives, the AHP was applied as a method of knowledge measurement in a specific use case revealing priorities for knowledge-based ideas. To properly compute a final priority ranking of workers’ knowledge ideas, an algorithm written in Python programming language in accordance with the problem-solving framework previously published by Thomas L. Saaty (Decision Sciences, 18: 157-177, 1987). The performance of the algorithm shows that the rating process can be standardised and automated to a high level, and that the AHP may thus provide supportive evidence for assembly optimisation. The AHP-derived results can be used as a suitable basis for a bonus-point incentive system, which should contain both material and immaterial incentives. To operationalise this, it is therefore recommended to integrate the AHP rating process into a knowledge management application of hand-held devices, such as tablets, which are widely used in the production environment

Wie industrielle Flexibilitäten das Energiesystem unterstützen können

In einem künftigen dezentralen Energiesystem sind zuverlässige und wirtschaftliche Lösungen notwendig, um den Stromverbrauch an die volatile Stromerzeugung anzupassen. Diese Herausforderung greift das Kopernikus-Projekt SynErgie auf und untersucht, wie industrielle Flexibilitäten zu einer sicheren, bezahlbaren und nachhaltigen Stromversorgung beitragen können. Dafür werden in der Modellregion Augsburg auf regionaler Ebene geeignete Ansätze erprobt, die als Motivation und Vorbild für weitere Regionen in Deutschland und Europa dienen sollen